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 Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2008 11:30 am
Now we've all read/seen or at the very least heard of Romeo and Juliet.They've made us read it in school and I've seen both versions of the movie countless times.
You mention Shakespeare and so many people will immediately think 'Romeo and Juliet',but was this really his best work?I personally don't think so at all.Don't get me wrong,it's a very good story,but I believe he has so much better.
Your thoughts?
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Posted: Sun May 04, 2008 6:23 pm
Personally I favor Hamlet, but I have not read all his works (few have) and there might be a better work out there. Either way, Hamlet beats Romeo and Juliet, any day of the week. <----(did I get that phrase right? I'm English, we don't use that phrase)
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Posted: Fri May 16, 2008 1:32 pm
Romeo and Juliet was one of the simplest plays to quote and has been "done to death" by the movie industry. That is why people remember it but I feel it wasn't worth remembering. What is so great about it? Two people fall in love or lust or whatever, there families don't like one another, they die the end. In my opinion "Romeo and Juliet" was the worst play ever written by Shakespeare!! rolleyes
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Posted: Thu May 22, 2008 7:05 pm
Considering that the stroy of Pyramus and Thysbe (feel free to correct my spelling), the story that Romeo and Juliet was based on, is better. Yes.
Some of you might recall that P&T is also the play that Bottom and his crew perform at the end of A Midsummer Night's Dream. It's one of my favorite scenes ever. Anyway, my point is that Shakespeare must have really liked the storyline of two lovers dying and having family that hate one another.
I wouldn't say he failed to make it a good play, just that it wasn't as good as where it came from. And it's dissapointing that P&T doesn't get the recognition like R&J
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Posted: Sat May 24, 2008 3:05 pm
It was overrated, and it wasn't the best story (and had a terrible moral), but it was still good. I can quote over half the thing, and I loved it, despite the fact that I hate everything about it.
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Posted: Fri Jun 13, 2008 7:58 pm
I'd have to agree that Romeo and Juliet is overrated in large part because it is common in high school courses and, as Aurelia7 stated, because it's popular with the movie industry.
I feel that part of the reason it is so often found in high school and in the movies is probably because it is one of Shakespeare's more simplistic plays. The play doesn't have the depth of characters or plot that are found in many other works, and has a relatively basic story line.
On a final note, I feel that R&J is overrated simply because the title characters are whiny overeager young teens who fall in lust more than love, barely know each other before they defy their families, and fake/actually kill themselves without thinking things through. The fact that their deaths brought their families together was more luck and happenstance than a good outcome that made their deaths meaningful... basically, I feel the main character were rash, hasty, perhaps even stupid children which immediately turns me off the play a bit despite my loving Shakespeare.
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Posted: Mon Jun 23, 2008 2:38 am
They're acting like teenagers because the characters are teenagers. If Romeo acted like Prospero or Iago, ya know someone much older, then it wouldn't make any sense. They act like that because they're hot rich Italian kids. It's not really any different from today's world. I don't fault Shakespeare for putting people into character.
As for using this play in schools: It's an excellent starter because it is easy to understand. It keeps people from automatically shutting down the idea of even reading shakespeare because 'it's too complicated'.
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Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2008 10:28 pm
Romeo and Juliet may be his best work, but I dissent on that opinion. It does seem overrated! Julius Caesar is better! My favorite line "Cry 'Havoc,' and let slip the dogs of war" is in that play. Antony was my favorite character!
My favorite play of all time is Antigone by Sophocles. Though a short play, it has to be rated one of the top!
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Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2008 2:28 pm
I would not say that it is bad, it has an interesting structure and I like his comparision between free will and fate (wrote my school leaving examination about it.. mrgreen ).
But I also think that there are better plays. I think one of the reasons I tend to dislike Romeo and Juliet is that people consider it absolutly romantic and think that it presents true love.
In my opinion it does not.
I've failed to prove in the play that it talks about true love. If anyone can find more than one quote that proves real love I would be grateful for it.
I only find this one when Juliet says in the orchard that he should leave, because their guards might catch him. She sends him away although she wants him near her, because she is afraid of his safety. That is true love I think. Are there more quotes?
I think the question is not if it is Shakespeare's greatest play, but if he really intented to write about true love.
Yeah, I love this parody in A Midsummer Night's Dream. It is actually a parody, isn't it?
To really understand the plays you have to consider them together, I think.
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Posted: Fri Aug 15, 2008 9:19 pm
Jackie-Kath I would not say that it is bad, it has an interesting structure and I like his comparision between free will and fate (wrote my school leaving examination about it.. mrgreen ).
But I also think that there are better plays. I think one of the reasons I tend to dislike Romeo and Juliet is that people consider it absolutly romantic and think that it presents true love.
In my opinion it does not.
I've failed to prove in the play that it talks about true love. If anyone can find more than one quote that proves real love I would be grateful for it.
I only find this one when Juliet says in the orchard that he should leave, because their guards might catch him. She sends him away although she wants him near her, because she is afraid of his safety. That is true love I think. Are there more quotes?
I think the question is not if it is Shakespeare's greatest play, but if he really intented to write about true love.
Yeah, I love this parody in A Midsummer Night's Dream. It is actually a parody, isn't it?
To really understand the plays you have to consider them together, I think.
But yes, that scene in A Midsummer Night's Dream is one of my favorites in any play.
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Posted: Sat Aug 23, 2008 9:07 pm
I really do like Romeo and Juliet, but I don't know why on earth it's the most known Shakespeare out there. Especially why it's the one that everyone reads in High School. Why not read a comedy, something a little easier to follow or digest for people unfamaliar with the style? I think R and J is a brilliant romantic tragedy, I know it better than the back of my hand, but it's certainly not my favorite of his works. I think there are several plays out there that are much more entertaining and much easier to understand. I don't get why it's the one story that everyone knows, whether they've read it or not. I think on a tragedic level, Hamlet is a million times better. But that doesn't mean that I think R and J is bad or boring, just not the best. I do think it's overdone, not necessarily overrated.
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Posted: Thu Sep 25, 2008 6:59 am
But the way Shakespeare presents Pyramus and Thysbe is definatley a parody to the R&J motive.
I think he based it on something newer. The newer version wanted to teach adolescents what happened if they followed physical attraction.
The motive comes from the old Greek, but has been adapted many times before Shakespeare.REaceofclubs Jackie-Kath I would not say that it is bad, it has an interesting structure and I like his comparision between free will and fate (wrote my school leaving examination about it.. mrgreen ).
But I also think that there are better plays. I think one of the reasons I tend to dislike Romeo and Juliet is that people consider it absolutly romantic and think that it presents true love.
In my opinion it does not.
I've failed to prove in the play that it talks about true love. If anyone can find more than one quote that proves real love I would be grateful for it.
I only find this one when Juliet says in the orchard that he should leave, because their guards might catch him. She sends him away although she wants him near her, because she is afraid of his safety. That is true love I think. Are there more quotes?
I think the question is not if it is Shakespeare's greatest play, but if he really intented to write about true love.
Yeah, I love this parody in A Midsummer Night's Dream. It is actually a parody, isn't it?
To really understand the plays you have to consider them together, I think.
But yes, that scene in A Midsummer Night's Dream is one of my favorites in any play.
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Posted: Sun Oct 05, 2008 9:46 pm
I think it is just overrated because it has turned into a movie cliche.
I mean, how many balcony scenes can there be before it gets old? In its time it was genius, now we have seen too much of it.
Maybe in a few decades it will be new again...?
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Posted: Tue Dec 30, 2008 12:24 pm
It's not my absolute favorite (that would be Midsummer and Hamlet), but it's good. You absolutely have to ead it.
It also helps if you've seen it--and seen it PLAYED CORRECTLY. The first half is actually a comedy, which I had never seen done until I saw it at the American Shakespeare Center in Virginia last summer. It was amazing!!
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Posted: Sat Mar 14, 2009 3:15 pm
havn't read enough Shakespeare yet to say if it is his best. So far it is my favorite though. Taming of the Shrew right behind it.
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